IT is well documented that increasing soil organic carbon is both good for the climate by drawing down carbon from the atmosphere and good for agricultural production through enhancing soil productivity.

Confidently quantifying changes in soil carbon in a timely and cost effective manner, however, has been a challenge.

This topic will form the basis of Agrimix’s engagement with beef producers during Beef 2024 in Rockhampton next week (see details below).

The current method of quantifying changes in soil carbon requires the drilling of soil samples and analysis of these cores for carbon content at a certified laboratory. This has a number of limitations:

• There is often a large variation in soil carbon content across a paddock (spatial variability) which creates a significant statistical uncertainty in the soil carbon level measured in soil core samples
• The soil sampling and laboratory analysis processes contain a level of inherent variability which adds to the measurement uncertainty
• Only the total amount of soil carbon content is measured with no ability to separate out changes in soil carbon levels over time due to natural climate variation versus management practice change (i.e. quantifying the “additionality” of a carbon project)
• Soil sampling only gives a snapshot of the soil carbon content at a point in time and repeated typically every 3-5 years (it is not practical from a cost or statistical perspective to sample more frequently)
• There are no linkages between soil processes and carbon outcomes meaning it is not possible to see what is driving changes in soil carbon
• Physically taking soil cores, transporting them to a laboratory (often a long distance away) and undertaking the analysis is costly.

Agrimix is overcoming these limitations by using eddy covariance flux towers (flux towers) which measure the change in carbon dioxide (and other photosynthetic values) across the landscape 20 times per second, 24/7. Combining this real-time data with the world’s leading soil carbon model for grasslands enables a calibrated and validated digital twin to be created for a paddock.

This approach  provides an ongoing quantification of soil carbon change with direct linkages to its drivers, all at a lower overall cost.

Research study

Agrimix is the first company in Australia to commission a large-scale scientific research study into agricultural applications for eddy covariance flux tower technology in collaboration with Australia’s leading soil GHG institution, the Queensland University of Technology, and its internationally recognised leaders Professors Peter Grace and David Rowlings.

Agrimix has received support for this study from major industry players including Meat & Livestock Australia, the Australian Government and leading beef producers. This research has been underway for four years across numerous sites focussed on those landscapes that have the highest potential for improving soil carbon content, specifically the grazing pastures in the high beef producing areas of Queensland and northern NSW.

Beta-testing of the Agrimix Measure-Model-Verify Toolkit is underway on six commercial beef production enterprises, with the MMVT set for release more widely in early 2025.

MMVT is a revolutionary approach to both quantifying and understanding the drivers of soil carbon change

Agrimix’s MMVT is a revolutionary approach to both quantifying and understanding the drivers of soil carbon change. The MMVT is an approach which can give producers a way to confidently make decisions on soil carbon and the ways to enhance both carbon and production outcomes. The specific advantages of the MMVT include:

• The use of flux towers to measure carbon flows across the landscape with confidence. A recent study by the Queensland University of Technology has shown the flux tower approach to have a significantly lower variability than traditional soil coring
• Changes in soil carbon can be quantified annually (or more frequently if desired): This enables soil carbon to be used, for example, in annual farm carbon accounts or more broadly in the supply chain
• The use of a calibrated and validated biogeochemical process model (the paddock’s digital twin) enables a direct understanding of what is driving changes in soil carbon as well as separating natural climate variation from management practice change (i.e. quantifying additionality)
• The process model can be used to simulate future management practice changes and help the producer decide on the optimum changes to maximise production and carbon outcomes
• The overall cost is lower as far less soil coring and manual intervention is required.

Agrimix at Beef 2024

At Beef 2024 next week, people can visit Agrimix’s trade site inside the Ken Coombe OAM Tech Yards and Innovation Hub to see a flux tower, real data from properties being measured and talk with the Agrimix team about the technology and how it can be used to measure pasture performance and changes in soil carbon.

Those wanting to hear how Agrimix’s MMVT works can attend Agrimix CEO Ben Sawley’s Lunch and Learn session talk on Wednesday 8 May. Participants can learn more about how the MMVT creates a calibrated and validated digital twin of a property to enable both the design of an optimum pasture and the quantification of changes in soil carbon.  Ben will demonstrate how the toolkit will facilitate improvements in pasture that both increase beef production and soil carbon sequestration, and how increasing soil carbon sequestration can contribute to the achievement of a carbon neutral beef production property.

Overcoming challenges

Agrimix chief executive Ben Sawley said the MMVT overcomes many of the challenges with current soil carbon measurement and management approaches.

“We believe it will be a game-changer for the industry by helping producers understand directly the drivers of their pasture and soil productivity and show the daily outcomes of their hard work all at a lower cost,” he said.

Beef producer Andrew Turvey, general manager of Willinga Pastoral Co, said having his property’s soil carbon sequestration measured on an annual basis to include in its whole-of-farm carbon accounting will be helpful in its business’s goal to produce a carbon neutral beef product.

Peter and Matt Quinn from Essex Grazing Co said they were keen to see how blade-ploughing and effective seeding of grasses and legumes goes in terms building soil carbon.

“The MMVT will give us this feedback quickly and cost effectively. Moving forward this information we think will be very valuable to our business,” they said.

Hazelmont Pastoral owner John Scott said the new approach to soil carbon testing was news he had been waiting for, and would allow his business to realise commercial opportunities on its land, while playing a role in supporting the environment.

Paraway Pastoral Co natural capital manager Paul McDougall said understanding the dynamics of soil carbon under different management systems, efficiently and at-scale, was key to unlocking soil carbon sequestration potential.

 

Background

For further details about progress to date see an article by QUT here https://www.qut.edu.au/study/science/news-and-events?id=184670.

Please also see our website info here https://www.agrimix.com.au/soil-carbon/. We were also featured on Landline here: Landline